Teaching Assistants – One of UNC’s worst features
While browsing in a book store recently, I happened to notice a slim volume entitled University of North Carolina: Off the Record. It’s a student’s eye view to life at UNC-Chapel Hill. What particularly caught my attention as I flipped through the book were lists of the ten best and ten worst things about the university.
Making the Ten Worst list were predictable complaints about inconveniences such as the terrible parking situation, the misery of the registration system, and the extraordinary difficulty of getting tickets for the Duke game. Also making the list was a pet peeve of mine, one that has a direct and serious effect on the quality of education students receive – Teaching Assistants.
Grove City College Shows What Can Happen Without Title IX
In the sports world, Title IX brings about various sets of emotions. There are those who believe the 1972 legislation – which bars discrimination based on sex at institutions receiving federal funding – has greatly increased the number of opportunities for female athletes. Others say the regulation has mostly decreased the number of opportunities for males, because schools have often dropped men’s sports to achieve equality.
It is instructive to look at the experience of one college that doesn’t have to abide by Title IX’s mandates. Grove City College, a private college in northwest Pennsylvania, does not accept federal funding therefore is exempt from federal regulations. Nevertheless, the school provides ample opportunities for men and women to compete in NCAA Division III level sports.
The story begins with the decision of Grove City’s administration to challenge the applicability of Title IX and its burdensome reporting requirements in the early 1980s. When the school failed to supply the documents demanded by the Department of Education, the DOE filed suit to stop Grove City students from receiving federal financial aid (Basic Education Opportunity Grants).
Learn the ins & outs of pursuing “culturally correct” funding
A rising senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, recently won a scholarship worth up to $20,000 to study Tajik and Russian languages in the Asian nation of Tajikistan. Since that scholarship obliges him to work in national security upon graduation, UNC-CH’s Prof. Charles Kurzman is worried about what kind of “dirty deeds” he might be up to.
Diversity Movement Threatens Academic Freedom
Just for fun, imagine how the academic Left would react if dozens of colleges incorporated patriotism into their guiding principles and evaluated people according to their “patriotic dispositions.”
Then think how they’d respond to a plan to “Develop Patriotism” among university faculty that would:
“Revise 3rd year, tenure, and post-tenure evaluation criteria to assess ongoing skill building and demonstrable commitment to patriotism.”
“Tie evaluation of patriotism to raises, promotions, etc.”
“Recommend that all instructional faculties participate in ongoing patriotism professional development, including a module from the Patriotism Project.
“Include meaningful emphasis on patriotism development in orientation programming.”
Statement a Victory for Academic Freedom
Last week the American Council on Education released a “Statement on Academic Rights and Responsibilities,” endorsed by dozens of affiliated groups, including the American Association of University Professors, Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, and others.
Democrats attack Title IX Clarification
Pelosi says Title IX clarification endangers college sports for women.
Statement may lead to compromise
A statement from the American Council on Education may pave the way for a compromise between academic institutions and supporters of the Academic Bill of Rights.
The statement, dated June 23, was endorsed by 26 organizations, including the College Board and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. In it, the organizations outline their support for intellectual diversity on college campuses, which was the basis of the Academic Bill of Rights legislation proposed in several states and Congress by David Horowitz. Legislation in North Carolina, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Brock, did not make the June deadline for it to be considered for full passage in the General Assembly during the two-year session.
The Perils of Annoying the Diversicrats
Last week, a federal court in Kansas ruled that the administration at Kansas State University did not violate the First Amendment rights of a journalism professor who was fired from his position as adviser to the school’s student newspaper. It’s an amazing case that shows the extent to which school administrators will go in order to appease the campus diversity crowd once it decides to feel aggrieved.
Professor Ron Johnson had for many years been the faculty adviser to the Kansas State Collegian, a student newspaper that had received an award in 2004 as the best daily college newspaper in a national competition. Alas, he and the students committed an unpardonable sin of omission. The paper failed to cover an event on campus. Of course, there are lots of events at a large university like K-State, so what’s the big deal about failing to write about one of them?
Congress debating bill to enhance studies
WASHINGTON – Congress is considering legislation that would provide grants to colleges to promote programs in Western Civilization and American history education as a way to improve educational quality in those subject areas.
The Higher Education for Freedom Act was introduced earlier this month by Rep. Thomas E. Petri, R-Wis., and Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., with the purpose to sustain postsecondary education programs that deal with traditional American history, the American founding, and Western civilization. The bills, H.R. 2858 and S.B. 1209, are currently in education committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
A New MBA Program That’s “Outside the Box”
For half a century, Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs have been a growth industry in the U.S. In 1955-56, only 3,200 MBA degrees were awarded. But in the 1960s, the numbers started to climb; in 1998, more than 102,000 MBA degrees were awarded. MBA programs have sprouted up in colleges and universities great and small as administrators sought to cash in on the increasingly prevalent idea that MBA studies were very useful if not essential for success in many business fields.
The trouble is that in trying to cater to a mass market, many programs offer an education that is of little practical value. In a September 2002 article in the Academy of Management Learning & Education, authors Jeffrey Pfeffer and Christina Fong observe that “possessing an MBA neither guarantees business success nor prevents business failure” and point out that the nation’s top business consulting firms often hire people who have degrees other than an MBA. They quote a Stanford MBA who regards the curriculum as “irrelevant” and believes that students get “a pedigree rather than learning.”